The Red Soldier
'"The Red Soldier" '''is the seventh episode of ''Renaissance, the sixth season, and the 127th episode overall. It was told and narrated by Rhys, premiering on January 3, 2015. In the episode, The Necromancer tries to convince Xerxes to choose him as her successor. In the present, Anna and Koala receive a hopeful letter. In the past, Jake embarks on a reforestation mission in Erut Nevda. The Episode XERXES HEADQUARTERS FIVE YEARS AGO "No," Xerxes said firmly. "PLEASE!" Ellis cried, throwing himself out of the chair. "Look," Grace said, "The Archduke chair has been filled. For nearly 15 years now. I don't intend to relinquish my loyal ally." "BUT I CAN DO MORE!" Ellis said. He stood. "LOOK! I CAN ACTUALLY STAND!" Grace raised her eyebrows. "Wow." "How about Blele?" Ellis said. "What?" Grace said with a laugh, "That petty Operation?" "Their goal is to bring you down." "They don't even know who I am!" "I could tell them," Ellis said, then immediately regretted it. Grace stood. She circled him. "No you wouldn't," she said, "Besides, you hate them. Don't tell me after three days you've forgotten the...Catalyst." Ellis sat. "I could kill them," he said suddenly. Grace laughed. "No you wouldn't. You still want them to play with you or whatever." Ellis was now staring at the desk. "I'll kill them," he said, "For you." Grace stared. She raised her hands. "Whatever. Just get out of my office." THE LIBRARY PRESENT DAY "Mail's here," Anna said, dropping a stack of letters on the table. Everyone grabbed their assorted mail and scattered through the Library to do their work. "Nothing for me," the Mailman said, "as per usual. Maybe I shouldn't have listed 'TARDIS' as my address." Anna had three letters. One from her mother, one from the IRS, and one... Red letter. An MJENK letter. She flipped it over. The red sector was bolded. Jake. "KOALA!" Anna cried. She sprinted upstairs. Koala was reading a book. Anna snatched the book and tossed it over the banister. "Was that really necessary...?" Koala began but Anna thrusted the letter into her face. "This letter was sent by Jake." Koala stared. "Maybe it got lost...?" "No," Anna said, "He's alive." "Then there's no time to lose," Koala said, "We must trace the letter." THE DESTROYED KINGDOM OF PARAISO TWENTY YEARS AGO The reforestation team moved out of the Forbidden Temple and into the destroyed land of Paraiso. At one time, Paraiso was a utopian society in the heart of Erut Nevda. Now, it lays in ruins, most of the village having sunk into the sands and River Liokufa. Jake Abrahamson moved swiftly with his battalion. They were looking for artifacts and potential survivors of the most recent fire. The biggest problem facing the Reforestation Squad was that almost immediately after trees grew, they were burned. "Here," the battalion Captain said, handing out berets. They were three different colors: red, yellow, and blue. Blue meant water searching. Yellow meant sand searching. And red meant forest searching. Even though there was hardly any forest. Jake was handed a red beret. "Begin," the Captain said, "And be efficient. There's a VIP in the tent today." Jake headed to the edge of the trees. He pulled out his metal detector and starting going over the land. "Found a Bestemming statue," a colleague said. "A what?" Jake said. His friend held up a tiki statue, pink. "Oh," he said. And then there was a cry and his friend was attacked. A tribesman leapt from atop a tree onto the soldier. Jake whipped out his gun and ran to assist. The soldier fought the tribesman, rolling in the sand. Jake used the end of the gun to knock the tribesman off his friend. "GUT HIM!" his friend shouted. "Are you serious?!" Jake replied, "He was scared!" The tribesman was peering up at Jake with huge eyes. Jake switched to the native language. "Where do you live?" The man stared. "Bazaar," he said. Jake nodded. "We are not here to hurt you," he said. The man opened his mouth. "You have gun." Jake swung it around his finger and leaned down. "It's not loaded," he whispered. The man smiled. "You will not kill me?" Jake pretended like it was a tough decision. "Nah," he said, "I think I'll let you go." "WHAT?!" the other soldier said. Jake held up a finger. "Go home." The man stared, confused. Jake realized he switched back to English. He repeated his phrase in Eugnot, the native language. The tribesman sprinted back into the trees. "Abrahamson!" the Captain shouted. Jake turned. He did not look pleased. Jake hurried over. "Your heroic act, if you'll call it that, has captured the attention of one our VIP's." "My what?" Jake said. The Captain waved his hand in the direction of the trees. "Call it what you will. He's inside." Jake entered the shack. "Ah!" Captain Grant of the VMK Navy said, "If it isn't the red soldier!" Jake opened his mouth to speak, but Grant grabbed his arm and shook his hand. "Great work out there! Extraordinary!" Grant paused and held up a finger. "Compassionate." "That...was nothing," Jake said, "Anyone would have done that." As soon as Jake said it, he knew it wasn't true. His friend would have killed the man. "Come with me," Grant said, "There's someone I need you to meet." EXPLORER'S TENT "Sweet Jesus," Jake said. "Red soldier," Grant said, "Meet President Nutty." Jake didn't know what to do. He was about to bow, but he knew that was stupid; this wasn't a monarchy. He just stood there, openmouthed. "Hello," Nutty said, walking over to them, "What can I do for you?" "What can you do for him?" Grant said with a laugh, "Ask not what you can do for him, but what he can do for you!" "Please, no riddles," Nutty said. Grant raised his eyebrows. "I think we found our first Blele candidate." Jake stared. "Your first what?" Nutty grinned. "What's your name?" Nutty asked. "Jake Abrahamson." "I'm calling him the red soldier," Grant said. Nutty waved his hand. "Jake," Nutty said, "We're conducting a highly covert Operation. How willing would you be to partake in it?" Jake stuttered. "It's not anymore dangerous than what you've been doing," Grant assured, "And you'd have the full funding of the VMK government." "Why me?" Jake said. He didn't know if he was fit for this! "Because you exhibited mercy," Grant said, "Compassion. Hope. These are virtues we need. Our Operation thrives on the virtues of the members who comprise it." Jake nodded. "So what do you say?" Nutty asked. "Oh," Jake said, "Yes." "HOTDOG!" Grant cried. Jake jumped. Nutty laughed. "Come then, Jake. We have a lot to tell you." "Well," Grant said, "Easy things first." Grant turned to Jake. "What color would you like to be yours?" "Uh..." "Every member of Blele will be assigned a color. We'll explain later." Jake shrugged and pointed to his beret. "Red, I guess." THE LIBRARY "Look what I found," Simon said, startling Deeba. "I'm reading the Maze Runner!" Deeba said, "Leave me." Simon dropped an enormous book in front of Deeba. "Storytime," Simon said, "By Niall Oficiali." "I've read that hundreds of times!" Deeba said. "Yeah," Simon said, "But I haven't. I lived in Tomorrowland. I never heard much about the Ghost Genocide or Castor and Pollux and here YOU are, the great-granddaughter of the almighty Gallifreyan!" "You want me to read to you," Deeba said, closing her book. "I want you to tell me about it," Simon said, smiling. Deeba smiled back. "Fine," she said, randomly flipping open the book. Simon leaned over. "Amelia and Edmund Hudson..." "NO!" Deeba screamed. She ripped out the pages and burned them in the nearby fireplace. "OH MY GOD!" Simon cried, jumping up, "THAT BOOK IS LIKE AN ANTIQUE!" Deeba was shaking. "Never," she whispered, "will I read about Adventureland." "K..." Simon said, "Are there any stories in there that don't make you want to murder words?" Deeba grinned. "One of my favorites." She turned to Chapter 4. Deeba read the entire story aloud, just as Elena did to her when she was little. Just as she did on her last day alive. Which was not Anna's fault, as Deeba kept reminding herself. "'Do we have a name?' Brandon asked," Deeba read, "'Oh yes,' Rhys said, 'Tell them!'" "Ooo," Simon said. "'What we're bringing to Katarina is a set of 8 people. 8 survivors. With one goal. To end this. We are...' Gallifreyan donned her hat." Deeba paused. "The Cult of Gallifrey." "Wow," Simon said, sitting back, "That was intense." "Niall was a great writer," Deeba said, closing the book. "You should read more," Simon said. Deeba looked down. She reached out for Simon's hand. He took it. XERXES HEADQUARTERS TWO YEARS AGO "No," Grace said. "W-what?" Ellis said. Grace looked confused. "I said no. Which part was difficult to understand?" "But..." Ellis said, "Three members of Blele are dead. I killed them!" "Congratulations," Grace said, "And thanks. They have grown quite pesky. I'll take care of it from here if you'd like." "NO!" Ellis cried, "YOU PROMISED!" "I did not!" Grace said sternly, "You offered. I told you it'd get you nowhere." "But I don't understand!" Ellis said, "You need Blele gone. I killed them. Almost all of them. You should reward me!" "AH!" Grace said, leaning in close, "That's the thing. I don't trust you. You're a loose cannon. I can't WORK with you! SO YOU CAN'T WORK WITH ME!" Ellis' teeth began chattering. "I...I have to!" he said, "I can't just sit idly by anymore!" Grace laughed. "I don't care." Ellis began breathing heavily. "What do I do now?" Grace shrugged, picking up a magazine. "Whatever. Go play with some friends." "I CANT!" Ellis screamed, "I KILLED THEM!" "Ew," Grace said, "That's morbid." "YOU MADE ME!" Ellis shrieked. "Oh," Grace said, "No, I was talking about the latest season of Downton Abbey. But yeah I still don't care." "If they were alive," Ellis said, "They'd play with me." "I don't know what that means," Grace said, "But just never see me again, okay?" Ellis was staring at the desk. "If they were alive..." "Sorry, I don't think I made myself clear," Grace said, "GET THE ### OUT!" Ellis jumped up. "I know what I have to do." Grace waved, then smacked her head into her desk when the door closed. GINGERBREAD JENNYFER THIRTY-TWO YEARS AGO Cammy ran out the door. He scurried down to the lower apartment. He knocked eagerly. Jake came to the door. "Hey!" he chirped. "HI!" Cammy cried, "Let's play!" "Oh," Jake said, "I'm kind of busy right now." "What?" Cammy said, cocking his head, "It's Tuesday. We play on Tuesdays." "But today I have another friend over," Jake said, moving slightly aside to reveal a girl in his living room eating popcorn. "Who's THAT?" Cammy spat. "That's Madi. She's new to the neighborhood. She's eleven." "Why does SHE get to play with you but I don't?!" "Calm down," Jake said, "She's shy. She doesn't like meeting new people." "MOVE!" Cammy said, pushing his way into the house. Madi jumped as he approached her. "Hi," he said. Madi let out a squeak. "Hello." "Are you and Jake boyfriend and girlfriend?" "What?!" Jake said, pulling Cammy away. "Sorry, Madi," Jake said, pushing Cammy toward the door. "She's stupid," Cammy said. "You're stupid!" Jake retorted. Cammy stepped onto the front porch. "Come out later," he said nonchalantly, "We can reenact my favorite movie." "No," Jake said firmly, "I'm not coming." "What?" Cammy said angrily. "I'm. Not. Coming," Jake said, "You're an animal." "HOW DARE YOU!" Cammy shrieked, launching himself at Jake. He managed to get his gold and blue hat off his head before Jake slammed and locked the door. Cammy stewed. What a JERK! He HATED HIM! THE NECROMANCER'S HOME PRESENT DAY The Necromancer walked over to Jake's collage. He rested his hand on one of the letters Jake wrote him in elementary school. There was a picture of the two of them at a high school dance. Well, Jake was in the background. He refused to be in the picture, but Ellis got him! Ellis chuckled to himself. "I miss you, Jake," he said, partly to the wall, partly to the red tiki statue. He paused. "I love you..." He lifted a hat off a hook, gold and blue. He held it close to his chest and sobbed. Production Continuity and Story Arcs Following the Catalyst, the Necromancer went to Xerxes (Grace), begging her to let him be either the Archduke of Tomorrowland or her own personal successor. When she refused, he killed Madi, Jake, and Nutty Jr. When she still refused, he vowed to revive the dead. After being pronounced as dead for the entirety of the season, an MJENK letter bearing his symbol was mailed to the Library, making Anna and Koala believe that he may in fact be alive. In "The Cabinet," it is mentioned that Erut Nevda needed to be reforested. Jake was on one of the reforestation teams. Jake's compassion in the jungle earned him a spot in Operation Blele. In the character's childhood, Jake and Madi were friends, as were Jake and Ellis/Cammy/Necromancer. It was also revealed that the Necromancer was in love with Jake. References Many Adventureland ''references were in this episode. Paraiso, the River Liokufa, and Bestemming were mentioned. The ''Storytime book by Niall Oficiali, first shown in "The Descendent," returned here in a scene in which Deeba and Simon read tales from Ghost Genocide. ''Deeba refused to read from ''Adventureland. The direct dialogue came from the episode "We Are" and is the same lines read by Elena to Deeba in "The Descendent." Grace reads from a magazine containing an article on the new season of Downton Abbey. Trivia *This is the second episode to feature Xerxes Headquarters, after "The Fall of the Cult of Gallifrey." However, many items from the room had been removed for use on other sets. *This is the first episode since "Discovery Island," to feature Adventureland as a set in any form. The destroyed lands of Paraiso and the explorer's tent were utilized. *Eugnot, the native language of Erut Nevda, is "tongue" spelled backward. *Deeba is reading The Maze Runner in the Library. At the time of writing, producers were downright obsesswed with the series. *This is the first episode to use someone else's Gingerbread House since the end of Ghost Genocide. Category:Episodes Category:Renaissance Episodes